As promised, one of DC's "iconic" heroes has come out of the closet - and it's not Aquaman.

A couple of weeks ago, DC Comics revealed that one of its big name heroes would be reintroduced as homosexual, as part of the DC universe "reboot." The move angered conservative Christian group One Million Moms, which called on the publisher to kill the change, but to its credit DC stuck to its guns and today announced that the newly-gay superhero is none other than Green Lantern.

This being DC Comics, however, it's not quite as simple as that. It's not Hal Jordan, who I would say is probably the most popular (or at least best-known) Green Lantern and was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the 2011 big-screen train wreck, but Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern of Earth-2 who debuted in 1940 and served with the Justice Society of America, "retooled" as a younger, gay character.

And according to writer James Robinson, he's not "newly gay," either, at least not within the context of the book. "He doesn't come out. He's gay when we see him in issue two. He's fearless and he's honest to the point where he realized he was gay and he said 'I'm gay'," Robinson told AP. "It was just meant to be - Alan Scott being a gay member of the team, the Justice Society."

Marvel did the same thing years ago with Northstar, but he's hardly in the same class as Green Lantern, and turning a legitimate heavyweight - even an alternate universe heavyweight - into an openly gay character is a big move to make. But just like in real life, Scott's sexuality will be just one aspect of the character, and it won't define him. "This guy, he's a media mogul, a hero, a dynamic type-A personality and he's gay," Robinson explained. "He's a complex character."

DC makes it all official in the second issue of Earth 2, which comes out (get it?) next week.

Farther than stars:Well, to be fair all superheroes are either spandex-wearing men or super-buff women. I figure you could probably make a gay joke about any of them. But hey, what do you know? Steve Butts called it and was exactly on the dollar, suspiciously so even...

DVS BSTrD:He's a man who draws power from jewelry, what did you expect?

I laughed.

My money (if I had bet money) was on the gay character being Nightwing or Green Arrow. I didn't think it was going to be Aquaman because of his relationship with Mera (also shame on whoever wrote the last article stating Aquaman is a joke character).

Wow, they are really getting edgy there making Alan Scott gay. Really, Alan Scott? What a cop out! I would argue he probably only barely makes it into the top 10 when it comes to the most well known Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Sinestro, Guy Gardner, Tomar Re, Kilowog, Abin Sur, hell maybe even Chip and G'nort) never mind actual DC Heroes.

On a related note I heard Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, Porcupine Pete, and Fireman Fred (All actual DC Heroes) were also in the running but all three were deemed a little too mainstream.

DVS BSTrD:He's a man who draws power from jewelry, what did you expect?

I laughed.

My money (if I had bet money) was on the gay character being Nightwing or Green Arrow. I didn't think it was going to be Aquaman because of his relationship with Mera (also shame on whoever wrote the last article stating Aquaman is a joke character).

Not surprising at all, sadly. When someone (not me, I'm not half that insightful) last week pointed out that there was nothing in DC's claim that ruled out one of the older or less-known users of a "franchised" name, I realized it was probably going to be a Lantern. I was guessing a later one, though, like Guy Gardner. But no, they went with the first of them, both to help claim "iconic" with a straight face (so iconic he didn't wear the costume and got his power from a magic prophecy meteor) and to ruffle less feathers from readers who remember him starting out.

Good job keeping to the precise letter of your promise, DC. Your lawyers must be proud.

I had a feeling it would be a Green Lantern and not Hal Jordan (because GL fans get angry when you do anything to Hal) either. My reasoning was that the Green Lanterns are iconic and, importantly, interchangeable. So depending on how it's received, they can easily back out of the issue. With most other heroes, you just can't do that easily.

Xanthious:Wow, they are really getting edgy there making Alan Scott gay. Really, Alan Scott? What a cop out! I would argue he probably only barely makes it into the top 10 when it comes to the most well known Green Lanterns

Maybe it's just me, but Alan Scott is the guy I think of when I think 'green lantern'.

Counts as 'iconic', if you ask me.As for him being, gay, I'm fine with it, although I would have liked if it was Aquaman. Since he's the king of Atlantis (or is he anymore?) it would have been more interesting. They could have portarayed cultural differences between the races and their attitudes to homosexuality, and there could have been some court-intrique involved.

It's also not too unexpected. Alan Scotts particular audience was already the Gay reader base because his son was gay. But in making Alan young in the New 52 Obsidian was erased. So instead of a Golden Age Father dealing with his Openly Gay Son we now have a Gay Golden Age Hero.

Once again, DC goes for big overture, little show. Alan Scott qualifies as "iconic" only in the loosest sense of the word, given that "Green Lantern" is most typically associated with either Hal Jordan (thanks to the movie) or John Stewart (thanks to the Justice League cartoon from a few years back). And on top of that, he's the Green Lantern of an alternate universe. The perfect choice for playing it safe while being self-congratulatory.

Andy Chalk:Scott's sexuality will be just one aspect of the character, and it won't define him.

I'm confused. Is this change only acceptable if being gay does not define him?

Well seeing as how having a character going around with being gay being their only real characteristic would make for a bland and boring character, then yeah. In a way it is only acceptable if it's not all he's about.

The Japanese ran a character for a while in Manga and Anime called "Eat Man", real name Bolt Crank, who had the super abillity to eat pretty much anything (including weapons) and then conjure it back. He would devour weapons a piece at a time and then summon them as his major trick, as well as doing things like bite guns apart when people pointed them at him.

That said, yes DC has had some REALLY lame heroes, especially in The Legion Of Super Heroes over the years, which lead to parodies like "The Mystery Men" and similar things. Marvel has had lame heroes also, but I don't think they ever quite hit the same depths as DC did at times.

I actually thought of who it might be (seriously, in some of my previous messages) though I did have his name wrong as "Alan Ladd" instead of "Alan Scott" for some reason, but the original Green Lantern was who I meant.... but at the time I said I thought JSA characters were going to be off limits because they are long running but aren't iconic in the same way the JLA characters are, and that with the possible exception of Captain Marvel it would wind up being iconic by technicality.